
Prison Journalism: A day in PollsmoorVuyani Kedama was sentenced to four years and later to three years in July 2022. His life was in disarray, with seemingly no future ahead, until he joined restorative justice programmes
by Vuyani Kedama
29-02-2024 09:47
in Prison Journalism
Prison
Image by unsplash
Have you ever been in prison before? If not, let me take you on a journey, or should I say, to a place you've never been before.
--
Diversity Among Prisons Pollsmoor, Mangaung, Drakenstein, Robben Island, all of these places are completely different from one another. When I say different, I mean hospitality, food, dressing attire, and most importantly, the rules of the facility.
Understanding Prison Rules The first thing you need to note in prison is the rules of the facility you're entering. You don't want to enter a place and have no idea of what is going on around you and you're totally kind of lost.
Daily Life in Prison In prison, you need to know first you're not at your mother's house. You obey the rules and instructions if you want to survive inside. I myself came up with a daily routine for myself. Every day I wake up at 05:00/05:30. I then brush my teeth, take a shower, and then get dressed.
--
Morning Routine I then wait patiently, lying on my bed with my book. The first movement of the day is counting time. We all come out of our cells and form a line. After the counting, the guards lock up again until breakfast time, which is around 07:30/08:00 am. After breakfast, we are back into our cell rooms.
Engaging in Reading After breakfast, I usually do my reading. I became interested in books in prison. You cannot just be around the whole day doing nothing; you will need to find something to keep you busy.
The Importance of Coffee As I read my book, I usually make myself a hot cup of coffee to boost my energy. A cup of java is one of the most important things for an inmate in prison. At around past 08:27 am, an officer comes yelling in each and every cell for workers to work. And you know what, that is when time starts to fly, and for a moment, I forget I am incarcerated.
--
Exercise and Recreation Around past 10 to 11, the officers open up for us for exercise. Exercise time is only one hour depending on our behaviour (inmates). Sometimes we only get thirty minutes to twenty minutes a day of exercise. So, you need to make the most out of the minute we get. After exercise, the guards take us back to our cells.
Afternoon Routine When I come back from exercise, I usually take a shower again, but this time with cold water. We only get hot water from the taps at 05:00 am until 06:00 am in the morning.
Lunch and Afternoon Lock-up After my shower, just in time, it's lunchtime at 12:30. The guards open up for us again for our last meal of the day. When we're done dishing up, it's straight to our cell rooms again. But this time, the officers leave 3/2 cleaners to clean the section while they're getting ready to leave/go home.
DISCLAIMER: Submission published as received
Should you wish to assist in the rehabilitation of former inmates and help put money into the pockets of those who have struggled to earn a living during and after incarceration, click HERE
RESTORE is an NGO based in Cape Town, South Africa, providing inmates at Pollsmoor Prison with restorative justice opportunities.
If you have any questions you would like to ask our prison journalists, WhatsApp us on 060 011 0211.
Do you have contact with a prison inmate who would like to write for The South African website? If so, send an email to info@thesouthafrican.com or a WhatsApp to 060 011 0211.
You can also follow @TheSAnews on Twitter and The South African on Facebook to get the latest prison journalism articles.
Support Women in Journalism in 2024 - Support us to fund independent women journalism
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
02/05/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
01/04/2026
January 4 2026, 18:00 (PST) DOLBY AND DOUYIN EMPOWER THE NEXT GENERATON OF CREATORS WITH DOLBY VISION
Douyin Users Can Now Create And Share Videos With Stun...
24/03/2026
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({...
24/03/2026
Rick Bernier reflects on a career that has taken him to the very top of live broadcast audio. As a Senior Broadcast Audio A1 Engineer and Music Director, he has...
24/03/2026
Grass Valley has strengthened its long-standing relationship with ImSoPROD, the TV production entity of the FDJ United, with the deployment of Grass Valley LDX ...
24/03/2026
At the 2026 NAB Show in Las Vegas, Utah Scientific will spotlight its expanding portfolio of hybrid SDI/IP routing, conversion, control, and signal management s...
24/03/2026
Fresh off its global reveal at ISE 2026 in Barcelona, the new V410 live 4K encoder/decoder from Miri Technologies Inc. will make its North American debut at the...
24/03/2026
Cinegy GmbH, premier provider of software-defined television technology, will show how its solutions answer the real challenges facing content creators and broa...
24/03/2026
Canberra-based radio and online broadcast network ArtSound FM (https://artsound.fm/) has invested in DHD audio mixing consoles for two new studios at its headqu...
24/03/2026
IBC today announced the nine projects selected for its 2026 Accelerator Media Innovation Programme, bringing together organisations from across broadcast, strea...
24/03/2026
Mediaproxy, the global standard for software-based IP compliance monitoring and multiviewing solutions, will showcase the next generation of its industry-leadin...
24/03/2026
Underscoring its global reputation as one of Canada's most renowned colleges for television production, the C gep de Jonqui re public college in Qu bec has ...
24/03/2026
Leading video software provider Synamedia today announced the launch of the industry's first edge watermarking solution that enables faster disruption of pi...
24/03/2026
Experience Commerce, a leading full-service digital marketing agency and part of the Cheil SWA Group, has secured the annual social media mandate for Fiat Payme...
24/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
24/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
24/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
24/03/2026
Intinor introduces enhanced SRT monitoring, HDR transport and NDI Advanced suppo...
24/03/2026
Miri V410 Live 4K Encoder/Decoder to Make North American Debut at 2026 NAB Show
Brie Clayton March 23, 2026
0 Comments
Powerful new solution for strea...
24/03/2026
Arqiva shortlisted for Education Initiative of the Year'
We're excited to announce that we've been named a Finalist at the British Data Awards 202...
24/03/2026
Use of ABC data continues to grow, with 87% of buyers say they use it, compared ...
24/03/2026
All three presenters, Maura, D ith and Sinead, celebrate as afternoon chat show filmed in Cork hits milestone.
Ireland's longest running afternoon show, t...
24/03/2026
Artificial intelligence has rapidly emerged as one of the most critical workload...
24/03/2026
March 24 2026, 04:00 (PDT) Dolby Named to Fast Company's Annual List of the...
23/03/2026
The Professional Fighters League (PFL) has renewed its multi-year partnership wi...
23/03/2026
The Snow League has named Google Cloud as its Official Cloud and AI Partner. The...
23/03/2026
Chyron has appointed Eric Wolff as Director of Venues Sales, North America. Wolff previously served as Director of Broadcast Operations & Media Production for T...
23/03/2026
Chicago Sports Network (CHSN) and Weigel Broadcasting's WCIU (The U, ch. 26.1) will simulcast 10 Chicago White Sox games during the 2026 season, the compani...
23/03/2026
Cosm has appointed Jon Werbeck as Vice President, Head of Sponsorships. He will report to Corey Breton, Head of Venues, and will focus on corporate sponsorship ...
23/03/2026
CP Communications has announced a partnership with Mark Roberts Motion Control (...
23/03/2026
NAB Show 2026, taking place April 18-22 (exhibits April 19-22) at the Las Vegas ...
23/03/2026
Bay FC and free streaming platform Victory have announced a partnership through...
23/03/2026
Gemini AI models will surface hidden context around pitches, matchups, rare stat...
23/03/2026
Behind The Mic provides a roundup of recent news regarding on-air talent, includ...
23/03/2026
Growing from broadcast engineer to strategic planner, this Ithaca College grad h...
23/03/2026
16 Science-Focused Nonfiction Projects Selected for Funding
LOS ANGELES, CA, March 23, 2026 - The nonprofit Sundance Institute and Sandbox Films announced toda...
23/03/2026
It's been 20 years since Miley Cyrus introduced the world to Hannah Montana,...
23/03/2026
Made entirely from real natural recordings
Aimed at sound designers and editors working in film, TV and game audio, the latest release from BOOM Library com...
23/03/2026
Transcribe sheets, tabs or MIDI from audio files
Klang.io have announced the launch of a new AI-powered software tool that's capable of detecting multip...
23/03/2026
An auxiliary target has been affixed to the Interim Cryogenic Propulsion Stage f...
23/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
23/03/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
23/03/2026
Pro8mm, the Super 8 experts, provided cameras, Super 8 movie film, and scanning services for Bruno Mars' Risk It All music video. The debut single from Br...
23/03/2026
Matthews, introduces their first aluminum grid clamp collection, engineered for the rigging needs of film, television and live production. Combining light weigh...
23/03/2026
Monday 23 March 2026
Hacks, the multi-Emmy -winning Sky Exclusive comedy, retur...
23/03/2026
Back to All News
Too Hot to Handle: Italy Reignites for a Second Season With th...
23/03/2026
Autonomous agents mark a new inflection point in AI. Systems are no longer limited to generating responses or reasoning through tasks. They can take action: Age...